The advent of flat-panel televisions has allowed televisions to be placed on walls, since the thinner televisions do not project out into a room to the same extent that a conventional cathode-ray-tube (CRT) television must do.
The electronic accoutrements for a flat-panel television, such as a DVD player or VCR, are typically located in close proximity to the television. Once a flat-panel television is mounted to a wall, there is a need for a shelf unit that will support not only the flat-panel television, but also the associated electronics.
The prior art has described shelf units that fasten to walls. However, due to the weight of electronic components, the shelf units should be securely fastened to vertical wall studs in order to ensure maximal strength and resistance to sag and failure. Since vertical wall studs are not typically located at locations that allow for optimal visual placement of the wall shelf units, prior art has limited the locations at which a shelf unit with high load-bearing capacity can be placed.
Furthermore, due to the cantilevered loading on prior art, the issue of shelf sag, from the back to the front of the shelf, under load has required stiff, and costly, shelf units, and/or complex stiffening systems to counteract the downward cantilevered loads. The need for a simple wall shelf mounting system that permits lateral adjustability for aesthetic and structural reasons, combined with a simple stiffening system to counteract downward cantilevered loading typical of wall shelf units for flat-panel televisions and associated electronics can be clearly seen.
As such, there is a need for a cabinet or shelving unit that can accommodate thin display media, and which can be rapidly and easily mounted on a wall.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,551, a media wall support is shown which includes an upright vertical wall to which equipment can be mounted. However, this requires a complete wall section to be used.
As such, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a cabinet or shelf unit that can be easily mounted securely on a wall. It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide a shelf unit that is well suited for use with modern electronic equipment. It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide a shelf unit that permits easy adjustment of the shelf attachment mechanism to ensure that the shelves of the shelf unit are maintained in a level orientation, and thus are resistant to sag due to the cantilevered loading on the shelf.